#mysterious character 2: dandelions 2

[mysterycharacterflowers]

Round 2; A bouquet of blue violets, trumpet creeper, lavender and green carnation Vs Dandelions 2

If you know who they are, or you are pretty sure of it, please don't tell until this poll has ended!

First, let's talk about the bouquet of blue violets, trumpet creeper, lavender and green carnation

Why these flowers were chosen: Blue Violets: specifically mentioned in the text, faithful and loving Trumpet Creeper: also mentioned in the text, new beginnings Lavender: Queer in canon (pretty su, silence and devotion Green Carnation: Queer (again), green is also a relevant color to his story Description: He is a devoted brother, and very passionate about who and what he cares about. A talented veterinarian and lover of all things fauna. He loves his family but isn't very good with people. I'm also pretty sure he's autistic but anyways.

Check their post here

Now, let's talk about the Dandelions 2

Why this flower was chosen: They’re modeled after dandelions in their personality and appearance a bit! Mainly in resilience and adaptation :) Description: They’re a professional baker with a floral theme to their bakery! They’re super passionate about their work and the bakery has always been their dream. While they’re overall a really sweet and kind person, they have a bit of a mean streak and some anger issues that they’ve fought to overcome. They have a side hobby in professional fighting sports and use it as an outlet for their anger

Check their post here

[thebroccolination]

BE MY FAVORITE - Novel vs. Series

Chapter 1 | Episodes 1 & 2

SPOILERS - SO. MANY. SPOILERS.

It's widely known by now that the Be My Favorite series is not a faithful adaptation of Jittirain's "You Are My Favorite" but instead an “inspired by” situation. So, I decided to read the novel, and I’m having a delightful time playing spot-the-difference because it’s clear already from one chapter and two episodes that our intrepid director Waa has made some major changes for the series.

Let's dive in!

KAWI'S FATHER

To start off, Kawi has one living parent in the series: his father. He explains to the audience that his father died a year after his graduation from university, and when he goes to the past, the first decision he makes is to go see, hug, and tell his father he loves him.

It's one of the strongest moments of the first episode for me, and it's made clear that Kawi's father was one of the only stabilizing influences on his life. As he says when he's thirty, his life went into an irreversible tailspin after his father died.

Meanwhile, in the novel, both of Kawi’s parents are dead and he was raised by his uncle. (Also, his father was half Italian. Just, y'know. As a bonus.)

So right off the bat, that's a major character and parental influence removed from the series narrative.

INVITED GUEST | WEDDING CRASHER

About ten minutes into the first episode, Kawi sulks over his invitation to Pear and Pisaeng's wedding. (Which then launches the whole "Pisaeng is death"/Gawin Glamor Shot sequence.)

But in the novel, Kawi wasn’t invited to their wedding. The first thing we see him doing is shopping for flowers to give the bride anonymously. And he also, like? Isn’t in contact with her? At all? She’s also his crush from high school, not university, and the translation I'm reading seems to be implying that he hasn’t seen her in over a decade. He has to ask “connections of distant friends” to get his information about the wedding.

This creates a major distance that makes him look wildly creepy to me. Like, you weren't invited, but you're still going to buy her flowers, crash the wedding, and give them to her anonymously? To what end? Right away, his motivation just feels sort of self-serving and pointless. (At least if he put his name on it he'd be creepy but manipulative, something active and dynamic rather than passive.)

THE CRYSTAL BALL

Now for our time-travel McGuffin! This is the by far the most significant difference as far as the plot goes, I think.

The series begins by introducing a secret buddy gift exchange during which Kawi picks the name of his crush, Pear. The story establishes Kawi as broke, and he's insecure about the cost of the gift he can get Pear, so he picks a crystal ball music box from the discount bin.

This sets up a lot of things very neatly: Kawi's financial situation, his struggle with making friends, and his crush on Pear.

In the novel, the first flower shop he tries is closed, so he goes to a rickety, creepy one next door. The mysterious old man inside says he hasn’t had a customer in years, so he gives the crystal ball to Kawi as a “gift”.

(It’s also not a glass sphere with a dandelion inside, but a kind of snow globe with a bride and groom instead.)

Kawi seems to be as unreliable a narrator in the novel as he is in the series. Kawi claims in the narrative to have seen Pisaeng with another woman the day before the wedding to Pear, but I assume it’s one of those “what Kawi saw wasn’t what was actually happening” things.

TIME TRAVEL

The “going to the past” mechanic is completely different, too.

In episode one of the series, Kawi runs into someone, drops the ball (ha), and ends up missing the gift exchange. Twelve years later, he gets the crystal ball fixed by a mysterious old man who strikes up a conversation on a park bench and asks him for directions to the bus terminal. (My guess for this is that our mysterious character used Kawi's written directions in whatever spell or what-have-you that he put into the crystal ball, so it'll give Kawi who what he most desires.)

Later, when Kawi turns the base of the fixed crystal ball, he's transported into the past, but he believes it's a dream. So we see our introverted, downtrodden, sulky mess of a trash raccoon that we've gotten to know for the first half of the episode let loose and act on his wildest, weirdest impulses, ostensibly in pursuit of Pear.

Then, in episode two, Kawi realizes this isn't a dream he's in. We also find out that Kawi has full agency over his ability to travel through time. By turning the base of the crystal ball, he goes back and forth twice in the span of a few minutes, and this both 1) shows the audience some initial rules of the McGuffin (he can use it to go back and forth at will) and 2) demonstrates for Kawi that he can travel through time. He'll soon discover that his choices in the past will affect and change the present, and what he did when he thought everything was a dream has had major influences on the present.

Meanwhile, in the novel, after Kawi returns to his apartment from the wedding where he didn’t bother talking to anyone, Kawi just goes to sleep, and as he's falling asleep, he hears music from the crystal ball. When he wakes up, he's in the past, and he figures it out pretty quickly. He chats with Pear and Pisaeng in class, and at the end of the day, he goes to sleep and wakes up back in the changed present.

He has no control the way he does in the series; he just gets a day in the past. So he's a more active protagonist in the series by virtue of this major change to the premise.

PISAENG THE MENACE

By episode two of the series, it's very, very clear that Pisaeng has been carrying a torch for the quiet kid in class.

My guess for how this may play out in future episodes is that: we could find out that Pisaeng in the original timeline was willing to marry Pear because it's an arranged marriage situation between their families and neither one of them was romantically committed to it. Pisaeng had a crush on Kawi back in university, but because Kawi never talked to anyone and needed to work while everyone else was socializing, Pisaeng never got to know him in any real way, so it was just a superficial crush based on looks (which would tie in nicely with Kawi's fixation on how hot Pisaeng is and his own insecurities about how he feels he doesn't measure up). Now that Pisaeng's seen and talked to Kawi more, the plot may basically become "you're soulmates no matter what you do lolol now let this woman be in peace with her wife".

In the novel, though, Pisaeng isn’t just flirtatious and obviously pining, he’s teeth-on-the-jugular obvious from the word "go".

AND THEN THERE'S THIS

In chapter one of the novel, Kawi goes back in time, chats with Pear, gets egregiously hit on by Pisaeng, wakes up back in the future the next morning to Pisaeng knocking on his door, and finds out that oops, Pear is dead.

Meanwhile, in the series, Kawi goes back and forth about three times by episode two, and by the end, Pisaeng shows up drunk and does this:

(Director Waa is my hero.)

I've only read chapter one so far, and episode two just aired, so it's entirely possible that one of the future episodes might do the "oops we killed someone" thing, but for now, Pear is safe from both of these idiots. <3

IN CONCLUSION

None of this exists in the premise or first chapter of the Jittirain's novel:

Kawi's father, the secret buddy gift exchange, the signature thing that was probably a SOTUS callback because Krist, the dandelion crystal ball, the whole "it's a dream!" character study bit, Pisaeng's mating three-pointer, the club, the gang boss, the iconic running and holding hands, DJ Pisaeng, etc.

The stuff that's the same:

Pisaeng and Pear getting married, the AI, Kawi being an introverted and underpaid subber, time travel, and…I think that's all the major stuff.

So it seems to me like they mean it when they say "inspired by" rather than "adapted from" Jittirain's novel. I think they just took the premise and maybe borrowed a few major events from the novel, but they definitely haven't shied away from making it their own so far!

I'll keep reading the novel and I'll add a new note to this if I see anything else majorly different in future episodes/chapters!

[googledetective]

the theories that have been presented on this cast + one of my own :)

I do want to mention that I strongly believe this is a prequel due to a conversation I had with a bunch of people on discord earlier. (Everyone was 16+, dw.)

I haven’t seen anything about the first two at all so far, so I’ll be skipping over them and onto the third guy (oh my fucking lord).

(Also this post from @nesisamess helped a lot)

Staring onto the third dude,

(both posts are made by @zitherwaifuus :)

It seems that here this guy has some sort of relationship to XF-Future Tech, which if you’ve seen Min’s side story, you’d know is the company that came into her life and groomed her to be the Ultimate Student. She received special tutoring for them and worked her ass off for that title her entire life because of that. Next, this guy shares the same tie pin she does, and it’s also very notable that she dresses up with the same button down and tie in her MV. Not only do I think she is linked to the company now, but she might be working there before she was in the game. Who knows, though.

Next, I have not seen anything on the fourth girl besides a bunch of people on discord theorizing what the dandelion in her hair could mean. Unfortunately dandelions have different meanings from different cultures all over the world, so until it’s specified about where she’s from, I don’t think there’s many assumptions we can make yet.

Number Five, the purple guy.

Everyone seems to think so far that this is Elliot Cuevas, Charles Cuevas’s deceased brother. Now let me tell you that although I can’t see it based off design, the way he looks (playful and kinda weird but happy) and the way he was described by the creator in the latest qna (a popular joyous dude), can definitely make me see this being real. The only thing that is super far fetched about this is that we know he died a long time ago, and so if this is a prequel, it would have to be at least 15 years before drdt even starts.

Here’s also some more evidence from @sunlit-haru supporting the ‘that’s Elliot’ theory.

Now we’re up to the protagonist, who mind you is definitely my favorite so far. I will eliminate the rest of you protag dickriders so I will be the only simp left.

ANYWAYS, in the about page for this, it’s stated that this is a fangan for someone who wants to be the perfect teacher. Now with the hidden quote on the drdt tumblr page about this teacher…

( @demodraws0606 ‘s post)

Uh oh. I think we’ve figured out who this mysterious teacher might be. As for who is talking to them, I’ve personally got a few ideas, but they are not backed with any evidence.

1. The mastermind from this first killing game

2. Mai Akasaki or David Chiem still

3. The mastermind of the drdt killing game

Whoever it is, I think that these games are surely related and that each current kg participant does have a relation with one of these cast members. And that previous killing game’s end is why this one is happening.

Then, based off the post up top and a few others, people seem to think this is Teruko’s brother. I’m going to give a wild theory (no evidence) that Mai Akasaki knows him, only bc of the red in his hair. Then I think Mai would’ve found Teruko, and she would’ve been trying to reconnect them. Just a theory, though. There’s no evidence based around that this guy might be Teruko’s brother though, sadly.

Last but not least, @1moreff-creator pieced together some of the text on his badge:

I’m just gonna say that I’m seriously impressed with your efforts cause I have no fucking clue that could even be readable lmao.

*UPDATE ON TEXT: holy mother of god, @xmicrophonyx is a fucking god, and deciphered it. Here you go, and we all have got to give a serious thank you to them.

Sadly I cannot link the image of what the phone number gets to, but it gets linked to a yellow pill. I don’t have any ideas on how it would relate to the game, but I think it does. It’s used for high blood pressure and heart failure. If he’s really related to Teruko, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had high blood pressure lmao.

Also, the area code for 555 is just North America.

Here’s what I found on Wikipedia:

“The telephone number prefix 555 is a central office code in the North American Numbering Plan, used as the leading part of a group of 10,000 telephone numbers, 555-XXXX, in each numbering plan area (NPA) (area code). It has traditionally been used only for the provision of directory assistance, when dialing NPA-555-1212.

The central office code is also used for fictitious telephone numbers in North American television shows, films, video games, and other media in order to prevent practical jokers and curious callers from bothering telephone subscribers and organizations by calling telephone numbers they see in works of fiction.”

I don’t understand the first part, but it seems that this is a fictional number. If someone could explain to me wtf that first part even memes, I might be able to give more info.

Anyways, it seems that this guy ended up being a teacher at HPA, before or after the killing game. But I think this was very worth mentioning.

Unfortunately I’ve seen nothing about the next two, but I want to say that the girl in all pink (#8) I think is Felicity Giles, if that’s even possible. I just feel that’s Arturo’s sister. I know, I’m a weirdo. Even if #7 looks more like Arturo, I just cannot see it.

Moving on, nine and ten! If you look at them closely they’ve got the same eye pattern, suggesting they’re siblings, or likely twins, since they’ve got the fire/ice scheme going on.

Lastly, eleven which oh my god, Arturo’s dream girl! But she’s been theorized to be Whit’s mom. Here’s the post that argues a pretty convincing reason of why.

Oh boy. That woman is pretty cool and is very elegant, and has the same shade of blond hair that Whit dyed his too. I don’t think she’s any coincidence.

But joining along on that last little paragraph of this person’s post, it’s starting to seem a lot of characters do have connections to this cast and are seemingly mentioned quite a few times.

UPDATE: oh my lord, @accirax literally went on a deep dive for us and gave us a pretty good explanation and educated guess on everyone’s talents. I’m not going to link it because they covered pretty much every logical point as to why they have their guesses. Here’s the post if you haven’t already seen it https://www.tumblr.com/accirax/728687594893885440/drdt-new-character-talent-analysis

Anyways this is just the sum-up of everyone’s theorizing + a bit of my add on to it, and huge kudos to everyone who’s been making theories so far. I’ll be updating & crediting if there’s anymore notable things that come out.

Thanks for reading!

[hustonnn]

STABLE TOUR

95 horses !!!!

Start with my bay collection (from left to right) (some horses named in russian)

Doom - my only one Arabian horse because I lowkey hate them but I felt bad for not owning one when they were supposed to be removed

Dragon Fighter - my OC Neyvil'

Gilded Rose (Позолоченая Роза) - second horse what I ever bought but I sold it one day and bought it again cause of nostalgia

Uno - named after Muse song

Danger Desire - horse of my SSO OC's husband Howard

Morning Comet (Утренняя Комета) - starter horse I love him 💚 wish we had more Jorvikian Warmbloods to buy

Pale Road - horse of my RDO OC Wild Brown - Red Cardinal aka Cardi aka Baryonyx aka Boris aka Boryia - named after themed playlist on spotify

Boulder Gate - just Baldur's Gate.

Furious Whirlwind (Буйный Вихрь) - first ever pony. Same story as Gilded Rose

10. Lucky Chace - kinda regret him 11. Thunder Hurricane - first "cool" horse, oldie 12. Iron Man - my fav MCU character :) 13. Night Butterfly (Ночная Бабочка) - bad joke, OC Penelope

14. Druid Bear - Halsin from BG3 !!! felt bad for killing him once so this is an apology. sorry bud 15. Zombie Apocalypse - Deacon Saint-John - main char from game Days Gone

16. Lady Pearl - my OC lady Lidorfya Pearl. wish it was a donkey 17. Brave Guardian - my OC Connor Birdhard 18. Marzipan - cutie 19. Sunrise Faith - @sshadovv 🧡 20. Harsh Autumn (Суровая Осень) - I dreamed of her when I was a kid :""" 21. Sweet Victory (Сладкая Победа) - we all ask ourselves was it worth it 22. Violet Bullet - my OC Valliet Bandolero 23. Almond Cookie (Миндальная Печенька) - was eating cookies lol. didn't like this breed that much tho :( 24. Eternal Love (Вечная Любовь) - my OC Lira

25. Spring Song - love/hate with coat 26. Fiery Sunset (Пламенный Закат) - RIP my fishy Toussaint 27. Glitter Gold - @sshadovv's OC Judy (she didn't like my choice of horse but I still bought it sorry love) 28. Red Deer - ARTHUR MORGAN I miss you old man (main char from Red Dead Redemption 2) 29. Tiger Horse - my OC Jaira Tagger

30. Porcelain Bride (Фарфоровая Невеста) - dreamed of this coat 31. Ghost Queen - my OC Samara 32. White Swallow (Белая Ласточка) - Ciri from The Witcher 33. Yellow Snow - "When the time of the White Frost comes, do not eat the yellow snow" iukuk 34. Bold Horse - bold horse. 35. Pale Princess - a rat. I hate her. my OC princess Fyrze 36. Grim - my OC Gustav Grim

37. Songbird - album Death of a Songbird by Luna Fawn Ripley 38. Singing Fishy (Певучая Рыбка) - my second fish Lubystok (Dandelion from The Witcher) 39. Moon Wisdom - my OC Ezer 40. Wingfeather - novel The Wingfeather Saga, author Andrew Peterson. I love books for children, relatable 41. Old Myth - main char of my favorite series on SSO. The horse's name was Aiden and the whole story was based on the game Beyond Two Souls what I love with my whole heart too. I regret not buying more old models, especially Andalusians because it's one of my favorite breeds 42. Winter Warrior - my OC Irma

43. Golden Feather (Золотое Пер��) - my OC Mechanics Emperor 44. Rebellious Spirit (Непокорный Дух) - Spirit!!!!!! Looks like my Spirit plushie 45. Wizard - my OC Guypril 46. Hero Magic - it's Guypril too.. 47. Coyote - my RDO horse Kharciz (I don't know if I spelled it right) (Харциз)

48. Desert Ninja - my OC Wild, specifically from Black Desert AU 49. Wild Hat (Дикая Шляпка) - another Wild, but from Red Dead AU 50. Wildlord - another Wild........ because his full name is Willord 51. Dark Silver (Темное Серебро) - my OC Vampyr 52. Phantom Liberty - cyberpunk is a peak 53. Pirate Blood - I will never buy normal full black Friesian because I am ✨special✨ 54. Dark Maniac - my OC Zwyr (Beast) 55. Ghost Mystery - horse of my OC Apparel' - Parquet. Also it was name of my first "soul" horse irl 56. Sugar Father - hate the name, was my OC Shuga but I sold him

57. Zombie Fairy - my OC Daffodil 58. Osprey - kinda fits to be my OC Zwyr but in reverse colors 59. Terrifying Hunter (Жуткий Охотник) - Geralt of Rivia (main char from The Witcher) 60. Silverhand - Johny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077 61. Wild - another Wild but bold sorry not sorry 62. Chaotic Soul (Хаотичный Дух) - hate this horses coat, but it was free so not complaining

63. Little Plum (Маленькая Сливка) - horse of my friend's (@sshadovv) OC Judy - Sguschenka (Condensed milk) 64. Jewel Seeker - my friend's (@sshadovv) OC Judy 65. Loveace - my OC Lovelace 66. Faith (Вера) - my OC Faithful 67. Giga King - my OC Nirehon, but name doesn't suit him anymore 68. Blind Eye - my OC Jack Brown 69. Broken Rebel - feel sad for his name but it sounds poetic.. 70. Crazy Brain - my OC Kris Cardi 71. Great Father - my OC Samson Douglas 72. Lost Star - song Take Me Home by Cade Crider

73. Heaven - just like the coat 74. Frost Shore - cute marks on head 75. Echo - reminds me of my horse from RDR Heparda 76. Silent Hill - my OC Ezer 77. Daydreamer - ME !!!! looks like my horse sona 78. Chocolate Milk - my horse from RDO Nesquik 79. Illusion Pumpkin - homestuck reference

80. Ballless - my OC Samson Douglas..... I'm so sorry man 81. Supernova Axiom (Суперновая Аксиома) - just a random name it sounds hilarious 82. Royal - my OC Royal. I know I am a genius 83. Shark Shy (Акулья Стесняшка) - my older sis give her name. Kinda reminds me of one of my fishes (Lubystok), but I bought this horse before I had her 84. Tiny Sparkle (Крошечная Искорка) - I remember how SSO gave us the opportunity to create our own magic horse. How happy I was as a child when the game showed exactly the same color as I made! Core memory

85. Scarlet Ode (Алая Ода) - bought it just because everyone ride it 86. Glory Power - like his pandorian vibe 87. Guiding Star (Путеводная Звезда) - RIP my fishy Toussaint again :( 88. Lovebird - I hated this horse but I became fond of them while I was doing quests in Hollow Woods 89. Tulip Petal - my OC Garreth

90. River Hoof - this is my favorite magic coat in the game 91. Willow Tree - song When I'm Gone by Shawn James. And this is my favorite tree 92. Gloom Wolf - same story short - hate it first but now seems cute after Hollow Woods 93. Obsidian Star - Yennefer of Vengerberg from The Witcher. Horse doesn't fit for 100% but I don't wanna buy Friesian for you darling 94. Raven Mane - such a common name for this horse :т 95. Butterfly Hurricane - my OC Huston and song Butterflies and Hurricanes by Muse - my favorite thing in the whole world

100th horse will be a Noriker, named after the band Big Time Rush - Rockstar. And tomorrow I will buy a robotic horse and call it Unicorn Attack

[annbourbon]

My Mystic Messenger: Master List

* Ongoing~

** For the Cheritzverse theories ~ here

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Theories

⚠️ Please be warned: Several of these post contain HUGE SPOILERS so, don't say I didn't warn you. ⚠️

Part 1- It's a Game

Part 2 - MC Mystery *I'm not on acid, but maybe my brain is lolol*

Part 3 - The Characters are Error Numbers

Part 4 - 404 as F.E.

Part 5 - Dandelion

Part 6 - Mystical Chess

Part 7 - Vanderwood

Part 7.5 - Vanderwood?

Part 8 - Choi Twins (Saeran's AE)

Part 9 - The Agency

Part 10 - Cheritz Matrix (The Ssum)

Part 11 - Rika killed Sally

Part 12 - Memories

Part 13 - Mystic Messenger Timeline

Part 14:

♥️ 🩷 💚🖤

Analysing RFA & M.E. personalities

💜💛🩶💙

💛 Jaehee 💛

♥️ Saeyoung ♥️

💚 Yoosung 💚

🩶 Zen 🩶

💜 Jumin 💜

🩷 Saeran 🩷

*This includes Unknown, Saeran, and Ray*

💙 V 💙

🖤 Rika 🖤

* Currently working on these analysis.

Part 15 - The Muse

Part 16 - The Real Wizard

Part 17 - Analysing Mystic Messenger Iceberg

Part 18 - The Ssum & Mystic Messenger connection

Part 19 - Cheritzverse Master List

(More soon)

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Mystic Messenger but it's things I created, (not theories):

♡ Mysme but it's all Taylor Swift songs

♡ My favorite colors are tied to some MysMe characters

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The following ones are not mine but are interesting and add a lot to my theories. Plus, some of these blogs have been deleted so I just reposted them to not miss this info:

♡ MC Soul

♡ Wizard Theory

♡ Not mine but is so cute~~~

[littlestsnicket]

ahh! forgot to do an update yesterday! 2/2 tasks complete last week, only making 1 extremely vague commitment this week because nona! and rennfaire! and i really need to sit down and write the vote fwd letters

some notes under the cut

last week i ended up adding a whole bunch to what is titled “corset fic (oops)” and i moved the file from g-docs to ellipsus so that’s been a fun experiment. going to mess around some more with the draft and merge functionality this week.

so apparently i am going to actually finish and publish kink fic? is this really kink fic? probably… all good kink fic (imo) has character exploration. also a reminder that it’s a lot easier to write sex when you’re not in your own head about evoking but not mimicking someone else’s writing style. but there’s not that much left… just a few beta notes and one bracket that just says ‘more sex’—which could mean anything in terms of writing effort—and soymimikiu may have distracted me with a research question, but i’m quite happy with what i’ve written and i think i’ll get this done relatively quickly. i’ve been meaning to write fic like this since the one moment in the books where anna henrietta is digging her fingers into dandelion’s arm and stroking him like a pet. yeah… that is a dynamic that does things to me.

more than halfway through nona and it’s eating my brain. i had a realization about the key ‘mystery’ of the book and i can’t decide if i hope i’m right or not. i don’t usually like… engage with stories in a way that i’m trying to work out what the plot twist is but the locked tomb books are so complicated i kind of have to to make sure i am paying enough attention to understand what is happening. these books are insane and brilliant and the way they are crafted… ugh (affectionate).

[winterfromwof-alt]

I'm gonna name some of my ocs and you guys can make random ships of them

DHAU/ Demon-Human Alternate Universe(my universe thing): Eric, Emri, OneEye/Ariel, Daniel, Ghost, Dani (she's dead btw), Daniella, M(r)s.Jones, Mr.Jones (also dead), Ajax, Beth, Katie, Victoria, Jermacia, Chris, Lil'Killer, Mr.Killer (dead 3.0), Mrs.Killer, Lucifer, Mr.Arson, Mrs.Arson, Mr.Blaze, Zayne, Ava, Lunar, Solar, Planet, O, Starburst, Mrs.Valley, Mr. Eclipse, Mr.???(he died a while ago), Mars (basic name), Halo, Nyx, Valentine, Champagne, Michael (definitely not named after @mikeybuddha), *Some character that doesn't have a name yet 💔*, October(ALSO dead), Pumpkin, Jack/Mr.O'lantern, Mist, Mr.Blue, Baby Blue, Coral, Mr.Vine, Sherman, Seahorse, GlowFish, Mrs.Titan, Alex/Alexander, Alyssa, Mr.Titan, Wyatt, West (his last name is Ern), XX (a robot), TeaVee (also a robot), Clover, Dream (not the youtuber), Wreath, Mrs.Nature, Mr.Nature, Robin, Fire, Jay (guess what....ALSO DEAD!!!), Freezed, VFT/Venus Fly Trap, Cayenne, GoatSheep (wth is that name), Canvas, Unknown, Sora, Serpent (killed Mr.Jones), Narrator, Creator (god/nsrs)

Haunting House (another one of my universe things): Leshero, Morhero, Trypan, Arachnid, Clown (forgot her real name 💔), Scop, Hemo, Phasma (I think that's how I spell it), Agora

OSC/ object show community: TrafficCone (TC), Hoddie, Piano (nearly killed), Electric (Electric guitar), Extinguisher (fire extinguisher), Sticks(yes there are 2 of them), Pretzel, Star (ninja star), Weight (5 pounds), Weight (20 pounds), Tie (hair tie), Mephone14(II oc <3)

WoF/Wings of Fire: Silver, Slushie, Stormie, Nightmare, Gemstealer, Everest, Polar, Antenna, Insect, Dandelion, Light, Butterfly, Tranturla, Mango, Nightshade, Termite, Peach, Ocean, Puddle, Seashell, Sunshower, Heat-Wave, Cacti, Lumi, Kiwi, Weather, Hurricane, Berry, Bayou, Galaxyseer, Oyster, Honey-Dew, Flamethrower, Cardinal, Aloe, Reef, Rosy, Sage, Flamecatcher, Planetwalker, Mysterious, Seashell (all of the wof ocs are nearly killed, minus Oyster and Flamecatcher, they died)

Fairys (just some random fairy ocs idk): Clara, Yiona (not named after me), Gem, Lava, Lavender, Max, Ophie (my friend help me make her), Ienna (another one of my friend help me make her), Jack (another oc name Jack?? omg)

TMF (The Music freaks): Wednesday(not named after Wednesday Addams/srs), Nora, Noah, Lunar, Lillian, Nathan (dead), George, Rain, Taylor, Berry (another oc named berry?? omg), Carlos, Max (another oc named max?? omg)

That's it :D (I think)

[takataapui]

1, 5, 44!

thank you so much for asking! i'm sorry it took me so long to respond, I was like 'ah yes, I'll wait until I'm not on my phone' and then. forgor.

Do they have any crafting hobbies?

Marr (Changeling Monk) creates costumes for xyr storytelling troupe! They've long since sewn their own clothes, primarily as a form of rebellion when they were young, but found xyr skill celebrated when xe started travelling with the Spinning Yarns!

I feel like Māhina (Aasimar-Goliath Sorcerer) is gonna take up a craft. I'm not sure what it'll be yet, maybe wood carving. I'll have to do a bit of hunting for the right one for her. She'll use it to create with her hands, when she feels like all she does is break.

Vye (Fire Genasi Blood Hunter) used to really enjoy crafting things out of snow and ice, when they lived up North. Does that count? I think their work probably got quite well known, before It All Went Down.

Dam enjoys drawing. He's not particularly good, but he enjoys it.

5. Do they have any tattoos? If so what are they and do they have any special meaning?

Marr has a magical tattoo! Xe got it in the very first session, along with the rest of the party as they were marked by a mysterious force that we're all still figuring out! The tattoo lets them link minds with someone else. Marr also has two bands around her left forearm, representing Gait (her late wife) and Kin (her child).

Māhina doesn't have tattoos, alas. I think her clan has special tattoos, but she always resisted getting them and probably will never get those specific ones. She's quite noticable as a person (she has a glowing moon halo and is 7ft tall) so I don't think she'd get any noticable ones, but maybe she'd get one for just herself in future. Maybe something plant like to show that things can grow even in harsh terrain. A dandelion would be lovely and meaningful to her.

Vye has allllll the tats, I reckon. She's the kind of person to get a tattoo because she thinks it looks cool so she's covered, and uses the meaningless ones to hide the few meaningful ones. I imagine she's got one for her little sister hidden, and her mentor.

Dam doesn't have any tattoos, I don't have any reasoning, I think he just prefers to keep meaningful things in his heart, and doesn't see a point to ones that don't hold meaning.

44. Who, if anyone, would they trust with their deepest secrets?

Marr's list is very small. Gait, who is dead now, knew everything about them. I think Gait's grandmother, their mentor in all things monk to a lesser extent. Marr is a deeply private person. I think when Kin grows up, Marr will share some of the parts of them with Kin, but only certain parts. Most of the secrets and stories that Marr holds will be hidden deep inside them until someone can break that barrier of trust.

Māhina is very adrift. She's found herself stuck with a band of yahoos only by virtue of having died and becoming basically a slave, punishable by death if she disobeyed. I think the only person she'd consider telling her secrets to is her fellow party member Yurris, and even then, only if circumstances meant it was necessary. She's deeply, deeply, DEEPLY afraid of being vulnerable, so Yurris has really only breached the outer layer of her defenses, but he still has alllll the walls and the cannons and the moat to go through.

For a while, Vye considered telling Teak (her ex-girlfriend, it's... complicated) all her secrets, but Teak abandoned her before she could. So alas, she doesn't really have anyone any more. Her old ship captain, Mercy Judgeway, potentially. Her mentor back home, if Vye even knew where she was. I think Vye told her little sister everything she could that wouldn't put Avan in danger.

Dam told his partners everything. Shame that one of his partners didn't do the same, even though Rakelle was only trying to protect him and the other 2.

(I'm realising a few of my characters are deeply deeply lonely people. Damn. I'm sure that's totally fine and for no reason at all.)

Ask me things from this list about my D&D characters!

Thank you so much! This was so much fun, I love discovering things about my own dnd characters while thinking about them!

[cogmented]

hiiii i saw ur tags on my post!! i know nothing about breaking mc but i understand ur excitement completely!! i have no idea what they did but im so excited to find out!! this team is so cool they have cool abilities AND cool lore AND cool dynamics AND a cool aesthetic!! thwy make me INSANE. hope u dont mind me dropping this in ur ask box i just need to ramble about them somewhere

YOU R SO OKAY !!!! i loveeee what is going on rn

ermmm spoilers and wht not!

like WHAT !?!!? there is so much more of a crazy element to breaking da game than im used to, especially when used in the context of a pvp heavy turned lore (more so circumstance and event) based server like it ACTUALLY COMES INTO CONFLICT RAHH we r usually just a bunch of gamers sitting around in little test servers (i was more so an in-game code guy rather than an exploit guy, im basing all my inner technical knowledge on what my friends r thinking from the context ive shown them)

im SOOO interested in how the characters play out here, like with the tyrant groupchat and some of the key players in there (pangi, reddoons, planet, SPEPTICLE !?) and how THEY were the ones supposedly getting big power

i think planet knows a lot more about what's going on than what vitalasy thinks (i have a theory that planet's trust barrier was given by spoke, maybe it couldve been given by vitalasy to more so keep him quiet? but ive been brain rotting over a planet and spoke team up so im mad biased) and spoke is much more of a leaker than i thought! he is definitely one of the least secretive members about all dis and whatnot, but his ideals are geared towards fun fun for every1 (himself)

also vi is showing phase 2 rn this is going to be FUCKING INSANE ! im soo sosoooososososo exited omhgg kicking my legs laying on my stomach twirling my hair and drawing hearts and stars around the word exploit in glitter gel pen and giggling

this has been SUCH an interesting season im still stunned by stream viewers who say s3 was the best but maybe im a nerd whatavar whatavar ....

i am going to rant and you are going to listen to me >_( hahahahaha muahhahaha but s4 has been so new and interesting from the START. those two main groups forming at the village and the outpost and their outliers was the domino effect of extremes. im on red's side here when he said that that was the main catalyst for WHY duality duo went to the lengths they did, and how THAT, the moment subz stepped into the end to see the main island completely wiped was SUCH a crucial moment to the rest of s4 development

that was the known start. that's what, to everyone else, was the beginning of consequence

but now, there's the added factor of the plan before s4, but these extremes were needed to make a reason to use these exploits in an interesting way. yeah okay, leviathan is not a threat anymore. TO US THOUGH!!!! ONLY TO US!!! because we know everything, we know what's going on and leviathan has NO IDEA what they're in for, but what does terrain, leo, ANYONE ELSE think about them? Are they scared? probably !

but seeing this as a viewer.... a watcher haha of everything we KNOW a FRACTION of how much danger everyone is in. we dont know to WHAT EXTENT !!!!! HOLY MYSTERY !!!!! im so so so excited to see how they use this

we saw how jepex and mapic and spoke used it in jepex's latest video, but they have MORE INFORMATION SINCE THEN !!! AND INFORMATION THEY DIDNT REVEAL !!!! vitalasy is SO FUCKIGN AWESOME. SOOO COOL.

it has gotten so intertwined and complicated and layered i shouldve taken notes because im sure my memory has been warped and whatavar but WOW. RAHHHH. it's not JUST exploits. it's been zam's paranoia and terrain's frog plotline and anguish and medusa and the prison and and and no end and then no end^2 and all the teams and the betrayal and hate and the flowers and dandelions and the sun moon and stars and chaos and destruction and meaning and trust and love and care and and and

i go crazy on a friday evening i dont know i love lifesteal lots and lots

[ecargmura]

Opus Colors Episode 6 Review: Frenemies

Whenever I look at Kirinoe and Mikuriya, I think about that one ProZD skit where he talks about shipping. I’m just like “THEY’RE FORKING” whenever these two appear on screen. The enemies to lovers trope is PREVALENT with these two.

I also noticed that whenever these two are bickering, it seems as if other ships start resonating with shipping energy. It happened in Episode 2 and now in Episode 6. Fortunately, as this episode is centered around them, the reason for their animosity is finally explained. It all happened when they were younger. Mikuriya painted a picture for school and then Kirinoe sold it without his consent. This caused friction between them with Kosei and Shido acting as mediators growing up.

This episode is one that helps them become understanding towards each other. There’s no denying they have the poorest communication skills out of all the bunch. They keep arguing without hearing each other out. However, they have the greatest resonance with each other as they can only work well with each other. It’s even shown in Mikuriya’s artwork where he makes a little story about two rivals that sort of mirror him and Kirinoe’s relationship in a way. To be honest, out of all the Perception Art scenes, this one was the best by far and it’s even acknowledged in-universe.

Kirinoe is someone who knows how Mikuriya works and is someone who wants to mend their relationship while Mikuriya is someone who keeps pushing people away and wants to be far away from them as possible. They’re like two ends of magnets in the same direction, yet some how, the opposite direction seems to favor them a lot too. One keeps wanting in and the other wants out. Fortunately, Mikuriya finally gives in and their relationship finally gets a bit better.

Other than the KiriMiku relationship, we get other cute moments of other ships and characters. Poor Ikaruga got ABUSED in this episode. It’s also sweet how Kazuya cares so much about him to the point that he comforts him when his upperclassman gets an ulcer and tells his other upperclassmen to take it easy around him.

Also, KazuKyo finally gets more development! Kazuya’s efforts are finally reaching him. My favorite moment is when Kazuya sees that someone drew an umbrella shielding the dandelion in his VR world. It’s a bit symbolic in a way. Dandelions have various meanings. Some of them include rebirth, healing, growth, and abundance of strength. It’s fitting for Kazuya who is trying to heal from his parents’ death and trying his best to mend his relationship with Kyo. The umbrella definitely symbolizes that Kyo will always shield him when he least expects it. There might be a day where he might take the umbrella back to shield himself, but Kyo will always be that umbrella.

Finally, we get an answer to who the mysterious Scribbler is: it’s Iori! Hm, I’m honestly not very convinced it was him. I’m still in the notion that it’s Kyo, but prove me wrong, anime! Please! I’m finally going to get the Iori moments that the earlier episodes ROBBED of us. I want to see his art so bad!

[mysterycharacterflowers]

Round 2; A bouquet of blue violets, trumpet creeper, lavender and green carnation Vs Dandelions 2

If you know who they are, or you are pretty sure of it, please don't tell until this poll has ended!

First, let's talk about the bouquet of blue violets, trumpet creeper, lavender and green carnation

Why these flowers were chosen: Blue Violets: specifically mentioned in the text, faithful and loving Trumpet Creeper: also mentioned in the text, new beginnings Lavender: Queer in canon (pretty su, silence and devotion Green Carnation: Queer (again), green is also a relevant color to his story Description: He is a devoted brother, and very passionate about who and what he cares about. A talented veterinarian and lover of all things fauna. He loves his family but isn't very good with people. I'm also pretty sure he's autistic but anyways.

Check their post here

Now, let's talk about the Dandelions 2

Why this flower was chosen: They’re modeled after dandelions in their personality and appearance a bit! Mainly in resilience and adaptation :) Description: They’re a professional baker with a floral theme to their bakery! They’re super passionate about their work and the bakery has always been their dream. While they’re overall a really sweet and kind person, they have a bit of a mean streak and some anger issues that they’ve fought to overcome. They have a side hobby in professional fighting sports and use it as an outlet for their anger

Check their post here

[smol-grey-tea]

Top 5 games, that's a good question 🤔ᴴᴹ.. Lemme list some games first so ik what to choose from

Dandelion, Nameless, Mystic Messenger, Ssum, Doki Doki Literature Club, Five Nights at Freddy's, Danganronpa, Undertale and Deltarune, Stanley Parable, Beginner's Guide, Presentable Liberty, Zelda, Minecraft, The Walking Dead Game, Life is Strange, Until Dawn, Fran Bow, Cinderella Phenomenon, ummmmm, Detroit Become Human, Beyond Two Souls, Little Misfortune, Papa's Pizzeria, Sonic Heroes, My Sims, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Mario Kart

Ok I can't rly think of any more games so I'll just rank these..

1. Nameless. Duh. ʕ͡°ʖ̯͡°ʔ

Is anyone surprised? (◉0◉)ᵎᵎᵎ It's my favourite game of all time, I identify w the whole game so much, such an emotional and gripping story, I love theorising, I love the art, I love the voice acting. I love the pure amount of passion you can tell was put into the game

It's been my favourite game for the past 7 years - it was actually my 7 year anniversary of first buying the game yesterday!! I so wish I could have official merch.. Gotta go to Korea myself one day 😊😊😊

2. Zelda

I'm being purposely vague since I kinda don't have a favourite specific Legend of Zelda game? All the Zelda games I've played before include (in order): Breath of the Wild, Link's Awakening, Age of Calamity, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword and now finally Tears of the Kingdom. The only games of the mentioned that I've actually completed tho are just BotW, AoC and TotK so I can't rly have too much of an opinion on the other games..

Zelda games are kinda known for their puzzles but my favourite parts about games (or really...anything) would be the story/lore and the vibe/atmosphere. I love the whole setting of the Zelda games, such a gorgeous and beautiful art style as well w the newer games, n fun adventure too!! Hell, maybe I'll even get Zelda tattoos too? Idk. I just fuckin love it tho

3. Danganronpa

I'm sorry, I like it!! I think it kinda has a bad reputation cuz of the fandom but imo the games themselves are fine (could be much worse..) and I rly love solving the mysteries!!! They are actually difficult puzzles!!! I love it!!

And the characters are so good too :) Especially w the 2nd game - the 2nd game is very good at creating characters who you can really root for or really hate and I think that's so cool. I wonder if I can be able to do that too with my own writing

4. Undertale

Bruh it's the nostalgia 😫 also it's a rly good game. I almost prefer Deltarune idk but good puzzles good characters good story and theorising material and good difficulty and-

Undertale good. I can't wait to see where Toby Fox takes his games in the future!!

5. Wii Plaza

I joke!! Haha!!

5. Ummmm idk, Five Nights at Freddy's??

It's not even rly about the game itself tho is it. It's what you associate w it. Ppl who went to see FNaF at the cinema didn't go to see a good movie, they went to see a love letter to their childhood

I remember being 11 yrs old and first finding out about FNaF by hearing my sister screaming from downstairs. I remember talking about it to my friends at school, doing impressions of the animatronics. I remember ppl talking about Markiplier and feeling guilty for watching his videos because at that age my parents weren't yet comfortable with me hearing swearing, but I still watched him anyway and I'm actually rewatching his Five Nights at Freddy's play through right now. Isn't that so cool?

I loved seeing the film at the cinema and holding my sister's hand everytime a jump scare startled her

The games are very good themselves too, even tho the guy who made them supported Trump and he also probably should've finished the series at Ultimate Custom Night and now the games are steadily losing quality and also logic but who actually cares about that in the end? Does it matter? Does it matter if the games themselves are actually good or not? I love them not just despite that but almost because of that

My hands are dry

I also rly highly recommend the other games I listed at the start too!! All of them are good, a majority from my childhood/early teens, all w fond memories attached. I find that my favourite types of games are choice based games/games w more than 1 ending (like Undertale, Walking Dead Game, Until Dawn) or visual novels (like Doki Doki, Nameless, Danganronpa). Adventure kinda games tho I think are super cool too :) 😊😊😊

(*ˊᗜˋ*)ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ so much for asking!!!!! 😁😁😁 I hope you enjoy my long responses 😊 when I think about it, I guess ppl don't usually have long responses to these kinda asks, they usually have short ones. I do love a good ramble ٩(๑˃́ꇴ˂̀๑)۶ᴳᴳ (๑`✪̤◡✪̤)◞ღԵհɑղƘՏღ

[storywestistrash]

oh god okay i am being enabled

so we have a few notable voice actors and while i cant put names to all of them i can recognize most and point to at least one other thing they were in, even if vaguely. and when i recognize a voice but cant tell from where i become quite distressed. generally i do better with male voices than female ones so sadly my fun facts will be all about dudes

first off some of our vas have certain patterns to the characters they voice. for example theres jacek kopczyński who most notably voices fred jones (scooby doo) and dandelion (the witcher) as well as nearly every single barbie prince ever. the pattern for him is that the characters usually check one of the following boxes: 1. hes a prince or something equivalent-ish 2. hes blond and 3. hes a little or a lot stupid in some sense. fred fills all three (cuz hes the son of the mayor.... i guess...... thats close enough to me), barbie love interests are either all three or at least two, dandelion is two in the games and three in the books. there are some exceptions or at least ones where i have to reach a little for example peter parker would fall into the "a little stupid in some sense" box because despite all his intelligence he is dumb in some ways.

another one with a fun pattern is the previously mentioned grzegorz pawlak who seems to mostly play lawful characters. evil or neutral mostly from what ive noticed at least but im sure there will be some goods on the list too. he also played in scooby doo (mystery inc specifically and he was the evil parrott) AND he also was in skyrim as the ghost of lucien lachance. i love his voice and honestly im probably gonna reblog this post again with a video of it bc i do think he could do a frank. and i am sorry but i might have to use penguins of madagascar footage. OH YEAH ALSO. if i remember correctly he directed and did a whole polish dubbing of some sonic thing almost entirely by himself because i guess he wanted to have his kids or grandkids watch it. i dont have any other explaination for why hed do nearly everything about it by himself

YET ONE MORE fun pattern is jacek bończyk who seems to be operating on a scale from spineless coward to sarcastic dick, and all his characters land somewhere between. he's played shaggy, anders from dragon age awakening, and the smarter lackey from barbie princess and tha pauper

speaking of princess and the pauper, and here i have no fun pattern to bring up, i just want to mention the actor, artur kaczmarski plays the cat wolfie in that one! hes also the voice of nathaniel howe (also dragon age awakening) (i have a favorite game) and, which i joked about endlessly, the polish voice of bob the builder.

as a last one ill mention michał żebrowski who is not strictly a voice actor but he DID voice johnny silverhand recently! and he did it so wonderfully that it is nearly incomprehensible to me. the way he screams and laughs and is just so incredibly energetic and almost violent in his performance is incredible and with all due respect to internet's favorite man, i do think his dubbing is miles ahead of the keanu one. he also played the witcher in the live action series from like the 1990s. i wish i could say "back when he was young and handsome" but he is still quite handsome from some angles i think. true polish hearthrob this one. very normal white man kind of look but you have to cut us some slack

ignore that this is a skyrim video and in polish but this is the polish VA of frank castle in the 1994 show and its the voice frank has in my head always. and i feel a strong need to share that with you guys bc i think it is a good voice

[annbourbon]

Explaining the Keywords (A summary of why these are important)

I'm gonna explain this because these keywords do help a lot when it comes to finding connections between the 4 games of Cheritz. As always, there's spoilers ahead so be warned.

.

.

.

♡ Wizard ~

The wizard is a mythical figure spread across the Cheritzverse. It started with Dandelion, repeated in Nameless and people couldn't catch it in Mystic Messenger. However the Wizard is still present even when they think it's not. (I have gathered so far several good reasons as to "why" the Wizard is V~ Seven and Saeran would be pawns in this. But nothing here is as simple as it looks so the traditional villain in black and white doesn't exist. Please avoid fighting.)

♡ Celestial Bodies such as: Sun, stars, planets, Moon, Mars...

Several keywords and not just for Mystic Messenger players, the word is often related to other celestial bodies. The characters often pray to the stars or other celestial bodies. That also happens across several games.

♡ Bunnies ~

Now that they're here in The Ssum, their role is much more interesting and complex than only being traded or sold as pets. Especially if we pay attention to Dandelion.

♡ Magic ~

I won't explain this one lol

♡ Tea ~

I had an epiphany thanks to this game and I realized that there are two kinds of tea across the Cheritzverse. The first one is a normal tea. Nothing bad happens. You're safe. The second one however is dangerous. And it's related to our next keyword

♡ Unicorn ~

I wish I could say that i'm joking. But it seems the drugs within the Cheritzverse are made from unicorns. That makes keywords such as

candies (Minha taking those), herbal tea (in Nameless and during Harry's route), and the Mint Eye liquid/serum~ to take relevance in a way not everyone would think. I keep tracking unicorn drugs but I need help from the fandom to gather them all. Also it is pretty much probably that the doctor in the island was trying to recreate or making the drugs. Probably associated with Mint Eye. Especially since Rika also went to the island and V and Jumin left her on her own a lot because she was "preaching" with K.

♡ Dreams ~

Throughout the whole Cheritzverse we can see the connection between dreams and reality. I don't know if I said so in my post about liminal spaces, but dreams are liminal spaces too. The fact that Zen has mysterious abilities, and the fact that some characters like Jieun have this ability too, only makes things go deeper inside this iceberg.

♡ Dandelion ~

And tbh pretty much every flower inside the Cheritzverse. The language of flowers is 100% a thing inside the Cheritzverse. So much that every flower has their meaning and usually it tells you something about the characters. I went deep in detail in my tumblr account, you can find it titled as "Flowers inside the Cheritzverse" but to say 2 examples, Harry has a pineapple tattoo that it's his birthday flower. His flower means: Absolute perfection. And V? His flower is a Michaelmas daisy. Means Memories.

Speaking of memories... that's another keyword although not as common as the rest. But it's not unusual to find that the MC has no memories throughout the games in the Cheritzverse. The only exception is Dandelion. Curious isn't it?

♡ Cats ~

They're also play a role throughout the games and not just because of Elizabeth the 3rd or Jisoo.

♡ Wish ~

Truly concerned about this one. Careful what you wish for because the price could be too high.

And that's it so far~ do you have a favorite keyword? have you found another that it's not listed here? Let me know!

[pretentious-art]

waaaaaaaaaahhh

have i ever mentioned how much i love dating sims???

[hanzajesthanza]

songs to listen to at the end of the world // a playlist for a strange fellowship of idiots...

In your darkest dreams see to believe Our destiny is time And endlessly we'll all be free tonight!

[the album cover above flashes. see this post for an accessible, non-flashing version of the album art]

to celebrate reaching 500 followers, i wanted to share my hanza fanmix which follows their journey from their ambitious beginnings to their fated end. tracklist and song choice explanations under the cut (long post).

there are 23 songs for the 23 days in september before they became a hanza. (and of course, i included sapkowski's own song pick, dire straits' brothers in arms. because how could i not?)

tracklist: 1. It's The End of The World As We Know It - R.E.M. // 2. Highway to Hell - AC/DC // 3. Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel // 4. Out of Touch - Hall & Oates // 5. The Graveyard Near The House - The Airborne Toxic Event // 6. C'mon - Panic! at the Disco and fun. // 7. Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits // 8. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel // 9. Rubicon - Journey // 10. Through the Fire and the Flames (Slow) - Melodicka Bros (cover) // 11. Dream On - Aerosmith // 12. This Must Be The Place - The Mysteries of Life (cover) // 13. This Will Be Our Year - The Zombies // 14. Our House - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young // 15. Last Party - MIKA // 16. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen // 17. Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf // 18. How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty // 19. Through the Fire and the Flames - DragonForce // 20. The Four Horsemen - Metallica // 21. Gallowdance - Lebanon Hanover // 22. Free Bird (Edit) - Lynryd Skynyrd // 23. Battle of Olympus - Syd Matters

as is customary for my fanmixes, i will be explaining my song choices and how they relate to the canon plot below.

1. It's The End of The World As We Know It - R.E.M.

do you like how this song is about the end of the world, and yet it is the first song in the playlist? hmm? i'm clever, aren't i ;)

i chose this song not just for its chorus, "it's the end of the world as we know it, and i feel fine..." but actually because of a youtube skit which uses this song to depict a "2005 action movie"

this skit is peak regis and angoulême friendship tbh, but i have, luckily, assigned the dialogue from this skit to the members of the hanza:

[angoulême] he’s just a kid “can i go now?” “well maybe you shouldn’t have brought napalm to the science fair”

[regis. also milva] and she’s an alien who parasiticaly consumes the bodies of her hosts until they—

[all of them, but espcially geralt] “i didn’t sign up for saving the world!”

[milva. also regis] “i’ll teach you all about MKUltra if you teach me how to… be a— a teenage girl!”

[to the whole hansa, but especially geralt and dandelion] “are you two up to something 🤨”

[regis] “i enjoy eating human food :)”

[cahir] “have you ever read ronald reagan’s biography”

[angoulême, to regis] “wait… you’re an alien?!” (said at a comically late point in the movie when the character in question being an alien is part of the exposition in the first five minutes)

2. Highway to Hell - AC/DC

Goin' down Party time My friends are gonna be there too, yeah I'm on the highway to hell On the highway to hell

the hero's journey in an epic usually involves a descent into hell, the underworld, or some realm of death. i consider geralt's journey with his company to check this box because "hell" in this case is the warzone of the nilfgaardian invasion. to me, it can be seen as a commentary on what the equivalent of "hell" is in real life.

it's a characteristically energetic song, which contrasts with the matter of geralt traversing a warzone to try and rescue ciri, setting off from brokilon with no plan. and of course, "his friends are gonna be there too..."

3. Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel

Well I don't know why I came here tonight I've got the feeling that something ain't right

continuing on from how geralt has no plan, only anguish, anxiety, and paranoia of ciri's current location and state...

Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right Here I am stuck in the middle with you

the company is one made of clowns and jokers, and geralt is "stuck in the middle" of them. as the exchange between geralt and milva concerning cahir goes, "he's a madman..." "he'd suit this company perfectly..."

4. Out of Touch - Hall & Oates

yes, this is an out of touch thursday reference.

You're out of touch I'm out of time (time) But I'm out of my head when you're not around

geralt's lack of plan to save ciri = he's out of touch

ciri having already joined the rats = he's out of time

geralt's insanity regarding ciri = he's out of his head when she's not around

5. The Graveyard Near The House - The Airborne Toxic Event

You asked me if I thought We would ever die So I pictured us like corpses Lying side by side in pieces in some dark and lonely plot under a bough We looked so silly there, all decomposed, half turned to dust in tattered clothes Though we probably look just as silly now

continuing with the theme of the hanza being jokers, clowns, silly... travelling incognito, to avoid arousing suspicion - and laughter.

I can't pretend that I can tell you what is going to happen next or how to be But you have no idea about me Yeah, you have no idea about me Do you?

each member of the company has some backstory yet to be revealed (regis and milva chapter 7 of baptism of fire, angouleme and cahir ch 6 of tower of the swallow)

And it seems a little less profound Like we're all going the same way down Yeah, we're all going the same way down I'm just trying to write it all down

they are indeed fated to die, but it will be recorded in half a century of poetry...

6. C'mon - Panic! at the Disco and fun.

this is a holdover from the percy jackson / heroes of olympus fandom circa 2013... listen, give me a book with a group of lovable misfit friends and i'll be there, i suppose i'm predictable. this is the animatic by viria which has stuck with me all these years (obviously, spoilers for percy jackson / heroes of olympus if you haven't read that book series).

C'mon, c'mon, with everything falling down around me I'd like to believe in all the possibilities

again, the company comes together in the middle of a warzone, they're in the middle of the world falling down around them.

Celebrate the night, it's the fall before the climb Shall we sing, shall we sing, 'til the morning? If I fall forward, you fall flat And if the sun should lift me up, would you come back?

they should celebrate, because this is the happy part before they all die (apologies for my brusqueness - it's best to be straightforward). i mean, baptism of fire ch 5 VS lady of the lake ch 9. that's all there is to say about the rise before the fall, the fall before the climb.

7. Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits

the original, the canon, the namesake, the song chosen by sapkowski to preface chrzest ognia. the song is about the futility of war in general, so please apply it to those anti-war themes as well as the shared suffering and penance of the hanza.

Through these fields of destruction Baptisms of fire I've witnessed your suffering As the battle raged higher

And though they did hurt me so bad In the fear and alarm You did not desert me My brothers in arms

the bravery of the company triumphs during the battle of the bridge, refusing to desert milva, refusing to desert one another...

Now the sun's gone to hell The moon's riding high Let me bid you farewell Every man has to die

again, the hanza is destined to die

But it's written in the starlight And every line in your palm We're fools to make war On our brothers in arms

geralt and cahir over the bridge...

8. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

i initially thought about adding this song as a joke (for the battle of the bridge), but i soon realized it fit very well.

When times get rough And friends just can't be found Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down

the whole premise of the company is that they are strange pieces that never planned to be together - they're not professionals, they're not expert trackers - they're strangers, random people geralt happened across in the middle of a warzone who wanted to help his cause. when he could find no one else to help him, they were there... over troubled waters...

9. Rubicon - Journey

i deliberately searched for a song about crossing the rubicon and was lucky enough to find a journey song (because you know it will be a banger if it's from journey).

a bit of roman history: julius caesar crossed the rubicon river, moving south into italy as a "point of no return" to the imminent civil war which awaited him and his forces in rome (this is where we get the saying, "the die has been cast.")

the narration of tower of the swallow remarks upon the crossing of the jaruga in a similar fashion - it had felt like a significant step in their journey towards the next stage. this river crossing is a point of no return for them.

10. Through the Fire and the Flames (Slow) - Melodicka Bros (cover)

i have included this song twice because it's very emblematic of the hanza. treat the version that shows up later in this playlist as a reprise.

The scattered souls will feel the hell Bodies wasted on the shore

On the blackest plains in Hell's domain We watch them as they go Through the fire and pain and once again we know!

this reminds me of how they journey through the fields and witness masses of refugees fleeing their torched homes with empty eyes...

So now we're flying we're free We're free before the thunderstorm On towards the wilderness Our quest carries on

this is their rise before the fall - they're free before the thunderstorm, continuing their quest, carrying on...

So far away we wait for the day For the lives all so wasted and gone We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days Through the fire and the flames we carry on!

they are far away from their destination right now, but press forth... and in the meantime, they in each other and in the war-torn landscape of fire and flame, find their redemption and lose their "pain of a lifetime"... all of their guilt and trauma washes away momentarily in the campfires and late-night discussions...

11. Dream On - Aerosmith

Yeah, I know nobody knows Where it comes and where it goes I know it's everybody's sin You got to lose to know how to win

again, themes of sin and loss appear - but this is also the introduction of a happier side of the coin... the theme of dreams.

Dream on Dream until your dream come true

12. This Must Be The Place - The Mysteries of Life (cover)

first of all, i have to apologize for using a cover and not using the original talking heads recording. however, this was a purposeful decision, as the song in its original recording is too powerful and too unique, it cannot be associated with the hanza or kept within any kind of fanmix.

Home is where I want to be But I guess I'm already there I come home, she lifted up her wings I guess that this must be the place

they say home is a person, not a place... though having a palace in beauclair doesn't hurt. "she lifted up her wings" could refer to anna henrietta providing them stay... and as fulko artevelde states, “anarietta (…) has a weakness for freaks, lunatics, and oddballs (…) who [she] gladly gives asylum to in her little fairy-tale land.”

I can't tell one from another Did I find you or you find me?

this is a time in their journey where the hanza finally gets some peace and are able to pause and reflect on what they have become, and what their destiny is.

13. This Will Be Our Year - The Zombies

The warmth of your love's Like the warmth from the sun And this will be our year Took a long time to come

this is just a generically feel-good song, a bit of triumph as they've made it out of the hellhole that was sodden, brugge, angren, and the north case.

And I won't forget The way you helped me Up when I was down

but they have been united because of their journey, their friendships forged in the fire of war.

14. Our House - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard Life used to be so hard Now everything is easy 'cause of you...

it's a wonderful dream, but is it real?

Play your love songs all night long for me, only for me

aaand a bit of a gerlion bias on my part. i can't help it.

15. Last Party - MIKA

If you could look into the future, would ya? If you could see it, would you even want to? I got a feeling that there's bad news coming But I don't want to find it out

the company can sense their impending deaths...

If it's the end of the world, let's party Like it's the end of the world, let's party And wrap your arms around everybody If we're all gonna die, let's party, let's party, let's party

but their stay in toussaint is their last dream before they awake. their last supper, in a sense... a paradise, a beautiful fantasy...

16. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen

Well now, I'm no hero, that's understood All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood With a chance to make it good somehow Hey what else can we do now? Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair Well the night's busting open These two lanes will take us anywhere We got one last chance to make it real To trade in these wings on some wheels Climb in back, heaven's waiting down on the tracks

mentions of not being meant to be a hero, but travelling onwards anyways, a limited amount of redemption, and the need to leave, to have one chance to "make it real" - leave the dream in toussaint and return to reality, where "heaven's waiting down on the tracks"

17. Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf

this is the first song that i imagined a whole hanza animatic to, so essentially every lyric in this song has a specific image associated with it... but to be more generalistic...

But I gotta get out, I gotta break it out now Before the final crack of dawn So we gotta make the most of our one night together When it's over you know we'll both be so alone

Like a bat out of hell, I'll be gone when the morning comes Oh, when the night is over, like a bat out of hell I'll be gone, gone, gone

they MUST leave toussaint, and they must do it NOW - with the urgency they display in chapter 4 of lady of the lake.

I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram On a silver black Phantom bike Oh, when the metal is hot and the engine is hungry And we're all about to see the light

they "hit the highway like a battering ram," with this power and urgency - meeting geralt at the gate in one hour - and are "all about to see the light" - meet their destiny...

And I know that I'm damned if I never get out And baby, I'm damned if I do But with every other beat I got left in my heart You know I'd rather be damned with you Well if I gotta be damned, you know I wanna be damned Dancing through the night with you

... and they meet their destiny together. they're all damned either way, but they're damned, together.

18. How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty

this is another holdover from the percy jackson / heroes of olympus fandom circa 2013... here is the animatic by viria...

I'm wakin' up at the start of the end of the world But it's feeling just like every other morning before

notice how "the end of the world" lyric and the "the world is ending, but i'm fine" attitude reprises from the first song in the playlist? i intended that :D

But I believe the world is burning to the ground Oh well, I guess we're gonna find out Let's see how far we've come

we just had to mention burning, didn't we...

Well I believe it all is coming to an end Oh well, I guess we're gonna pretend Let's see how far we've come

"pretend" could refer to their stay in toussaint, in the dream-like fantasy they held while living in the palace...

19. Through the Fire and the Flames - DragonForce

enjoy the epic reprise!

On a cold winter morning In the time before the light In flames of death's eternal reign We ride towards the fight

this first stanza IS their ride to stygga - on a cold winter morning, riding towards the fight...

We're banished from a time in a fallen land To a life beyond the stars

this line relates to exiting life and entering the realm of legend as heroes, remembered in story as geralt's company...

In your darkest dreams see to believe Our destiny is time And endlessly we'll all be free tonight!

toussaint was a dream, stygga is about to be a nightmare, where they'll meet their destiny.

see free bird later towards the end of the playlist for associations with the word "free."

Now here we stand with their blood on our hands We fought so hard, now can we understand

one of the lines geralt delivers in the soup scene in ch 5 of baptism of fire is "united by a common goal [ciri], which none of you understand." none of them understood their goal, ciri, when they struck out - but now, at stygga, they understand. with the blood on their hands, they've reached enlightenment.

20. The Four Horsemen - Metallica

By the last breath of the fourth winds blow Better raise your ears The sound of hooves knock at your door Lock up your wife and children now It's time to wield the blade For now you've got some company

i imagine this is what boreas mun and the others near the gate of castle stygga heard when the hanza approached.

The horsemen are drawing nearer On the leather steeds they ride They've come to take your life On through the dead of night With the four horsemen ride Or choose your fate and die

this reminds me of a line from the odyssey from the slaughter of the suitors, it's something like "they had no idea how tightly the net had been cast around them".

You've been dying since the day you were born You know it's all been planned

the hanza's deaths were planned since their initial appearances, at least there are clues which indicate so.

The quartet of deliverance rides A sinner once a sinner twice No need for confession now 'Cause now you have got the fight of your life

the themes of baptism of fire and tower of the swallow reprise, about guilt, penance, suffering... it's all coming together

i've also compared the hanza at stygga to the four horsemen of the apocalypse in other places, such as that little quiz i made, and here's what i think about them as they enter -

milva like pestilence, like lord apollo coming down from olympus with the arrows rattling in the quiver on his back, shooting down the greek camp in the beginning of the iliad

cahir like war, his nilfgaardian officer's helmet tells it all, if the large sword he was brandishing wasn't enough.

angouleme like famine, as she has starved many times before, and represents the remnants of a landscape destroyed by nilfgard

geralt like death (or time, in this case), his white hair, his finality. and he has the closest relation to ciri, who, after all as we know, is death or was death herself.

i didn't mention regis, because he's not on horseback when they enter the gate at stygga, he's the figure which lets them in. i suppose this gives him antichrist energies, a diagnosis that he'd probably be amused by.

21. Gallowdance - Lebanon Hanover

Dance with me the gallowdance For all the degradation is this land Dance with me the gallowdance As disorientated as you can

originally a song which i categorized for regis, i think the overall message of "dying together" is appropriate for the hanza; however, it does still bare some regis-like features - the genre and atmosphere, "dance" and "disorientated" serve to remind of the drunken state which leads to his death.

22. Free Bird (Edit) - Lynryd Skynyrd

If I leave here tomorrow Would you still remember me For I must be traveling on now 'Cause there's too many places I've got to see But if I stay here with you, girl Things just couldn't be the same

of course this song is a romantic one about the leaving of a lover, but i'm repurposing this song to be about the destined deaths of the hanza: they "must be travelling on now," they must die, if they "stay here" "things just couldn't be the same," if they continue to live, the story will not take place as it is intended to, as was foreshadowed and destined.

'Cause I'm as free as a bird now And this bird you cannot change

birds and death are often associated; at stygga, black rooks crowd the castle walls before the hanza enters the gate and the courtyard. death is "freeing," in many aspects, and these cannot be changed, these are their final ends, their destinies.

23. Battle of Olympus - Syd Matters

Way back in the warmth of '87 '78 We don't fear a black night as we're leaving heaven Close all the windows, put the TV on As the sun goes down

they fear nothing as they leave, they have been living in the "heaven" of toussaint but have left it. i originally misheard this lyric as "leaving heaven" and i'm rolling with that... closing the windows, they're now enveloped in darkness, in eternal sleep, the sun now sets on their journey, their destiny.

I swear I saw a fairy in the back of your garden But it was nothing at all for you to remember

ciri is referred to as a faerie by galahad, geralt and cahir see her in their dreams...

Cannot find the keys of my memory box Tell the time to stop and dry my teardrops Where have you been? I forgot what I've seen, even in my dreams

"dry my teardrops" reminds me of the prophecy regis received from the girl from the refugee camp remarked upon "when at the end (...) the tears dry, then will die the few left who remain." "i've forgot what i've seen, even in my dreams" reminds me of condwiramurs's labor of locating castle stygga as the final battle.

the song is soft, contemplative, and sad... it seems fitting to the tragic end.